Chapter Thirty-Four

Nesta is attacked and dragged into black water by a kelpie while left alone in a tree, disappearing beneath the surface. Meanwhile, Cassian and Azriel defeat a group of soldiers bearing Eris's insignia, capture two survivors, and return to find Nesta missing with her scent ending at the water's edge.

Nesta, left in a tall tree by Cassian, approaches the water's edge and sees her reflection. A humanoid creature—a kelpie with bone-white skin, enormous black eyes, an unnaturally wide mouth filled with rotted teeth, and grotesquely long fingers—emerges from the black bog. Despite an inner female voice urging her to run, Nesta is paralyzed by terror. The kelpie lunges, claws ripping through her skin as it drags her into the frigid water and pulls her under the surface. In a parallel narrative, Cassian and Azriel engage in combat with soldiers bearing Eris's insignia. The soldiers fight ferociously with sword and flame but show no fear, awareness, or communication—appearing vacant and unfocused. Cassian orders Azriel to bind the two surviving soldiers with his Siphon power while their fallen companions lie scattered around them. Azriel notes the soldiers smell as though they haven't bathed in weeks and questions whether these are Eris's missing soldiers who he claimed had been acting strangely before vanishing. After securing the captives with shadow magic, Cassian and Azriel return to the tree where Nesta was left. They find her missing, her scent trailing only to the water's edge before vanishing entirely. Cassian calls out desperately for her as the mist of Oorid swallows his roar.